


I'd Be Lost Without You Leading Me Astray

by DefaltManifesto



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Background Relationships, Break Up, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 14:22:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14956305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefaltManifesto/pseuds/DefaltManifesto
Summary: Wrench is very good at making bad decisions.





	I'd Be Lost Without You Leading Me Astray

**Author's Note:**

> Just a standalone fic that I wanted to get out of my head. This was originally supposed to end with them together but Wrench decided nah. Title from Fade by Lewis Capaldi. You can find me on tumblr @ defaltmanifesto. Also, comments are loved.

Wrench isn’t sure how he got here. Well, generally speaking he knows – he’s bad at making life decisions. This isn’t news and is the usual reason behind most of the terrible situations he finds himself in and this time is no different.

He’s just having trouble wrapping his head around the idea that he’d be this stupid.

"Jesus, kid, what’s the point of you being my behind the scenes guy if you get caught?” Jordi’s voice yells in his earphone.

"I’m not caught yet, and I won’t be if you hurry the fuck up!” Wrench keeps his voice as quiet as he can, ducking down below the window in the door as another guard rushes by.

There’s the sound of gunfire and then another explosion. Wrench opens his laptop again and clicks his way through the building schematics, wishing not for the first time that he were smarter and more prepared the way Marcus always was. Marcus always memorized floor plans before going in if he could. His eyes danced rapid fire over the screen for a path. It would be risky but he couldn’t stay. Security knew the breach came from this room and while Jordi was drawing fire by being a general nuisance, he couldn’t keep doing that forever.

“I’m moving,” Wrench says into his mic as he shuts his laptop and slips it in his bag.

"The fuck you’re not, I am not dealing with your whiny friend if you get your ass killed you stay right where the fuck you-“

Wrench opens the door, slamming it into the face of the security guard. He steps outside fast and kicks him hard in the head, knocking him out cold before crouching and taking the semi-automatic pistol out of his hand. He throws a glance over his shoulder before continuing down the hall. He reaches the staircase fine. It isn’t until he’s halfway down that he hears the footsteps of people racing up them that he realizes he’s as good as trapped himself.

“Fuck,” he whispers.

He doesn’t hesitate, instead racing back the way he came, taking the steps two at a time. He’s not quick enough. There’s shouting and then the rattle of gunfire whizzing up the stairwell and his heart begins to pound so fast he feels dizzy. He reaches the top of the stairs but before he can escape through the door and try to regroup, the door flies open and Jordi steps through.

"Duck.”

Wrench throws himself to the ground just in time for Jordi to open fire. When he looks back towards the stairwell, he sees two guards ripped apart by bullets, blood splattered across the walls.

"Get up kid,” Jordi says. He doesn’t sound amused, not anymore.

           

-.-

 

Marcus had been against the idea. Jordi showing up in the comic shop above their hackerspace hadn’t been expected, nor had his request for Wrench’s help. Apparently, he’d appreciated Wrench’s firework display when it came to the Bratvas who’d nearly killed Marcus and needed someone with his expertise to provide a distraction while also handling the hacking of the building’s security system.

Wrench had said yes, because he’d been antsy from the time between then and the last time he’d gotten to be in the field, plus even if he wanted to punch Jordi in the face for endangering Marcus’ life he had to admit he vibed hard with the man’s style. It’s what made Marcus’ warnings so easy to ignore.

Even now, he’s having trouble regretting the decision. The brush with death gave him the adrenaline rush he wanted except…now he’s bent over the desk back at the hotel with two of Jordi’s fingers up his ass. He’s pretty sure fucking an assassin isn’t what he’s supposed to do but it’s definitely all he wants to do.

“Hurry the fuck up,” Wrench says, slamming his hand against the desk.

“Jesus, you fucking millennials and your lack of patience,” Jordi says, but Wrench can hear him undoing his belt so he doesn’t give two fucks about what he has to say.

It’s rough, but that’s kind of how Wrench likes it. At least, he’s pretty sure he does. It’s hard to really know because all of his sexual experiences fall in that category and he’s thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Jordi’s hands leave bruises on his pale, bony hips. He’s still got blood stains on his suit, but he insists on Wrench cleaning up the come on the wall. It’s such a fucking paradox Wrench can feel his dick trying to pop a boner. He always did get turned on by weird shit.

 

-.-

 

They fall asleep in separate beds and when he wakes the next morning, Jordi and his ridiculous cache of weapons are gone. All in all, Wrench counts it as a good mission. He got to blow shit up, he got to banter with a guy who lived as close to the edge as he did, and he got laid. What wasn’t to like?

When he shows back up at the hackerspace, Marcus hugs him for too long but he gets it. Working with Jordi was a risk – it always would be. It’s too long for a hug, but Wrench is still the last one to let go.

“How bad was it?” Marcus asks, flopping down on the couch.

Wrench sprawls out on the floor in front of him. “Almost ended up with more holes than Swiss cheese but we got the data. I already sent it to Sitara.”

“Wait a minute. Isn’t the whole point of teaming up with Jordi so you _don’t_ end up like that?” Marcus asks, propping himself up on his elbow to look down at him. “He’s supposed to protect tyou.”

“He did! It was just a little close this time,” Wrench says.

“Uh-huh.”

Wrench hesitates a moment. He’s always been bad at secrets. “And I may have slept with him.”

“You did what now?” Marcus flops back down. “Why?”

“I make bad choices?” Wrench sighs. “Adrenaline mostly. Also, he’s like me. It’s hot.”

"Oh yeah?”

“Kinda like you and Horatio,” Wrench says.

“Except neither of us are violent psychopaths and Jordi sort of…is,” Marcus says. “You _sure_ you know what you’re doing?”

“Pfft, I’m never sure of that,” Wrench says. “It’s fine, Marcus. I doubt he’ll be in touch again.”

 

-.-

 

Jordi got in touch again. He flies himself and Wrench out to the border of Russia and China and despite the location, it’s a much safer job than the last one, supposedly. Wrench stays in the hotel eating chocolate covered strawberries while hacking open the security of a drug dealer’s hideout and acting as Jordi’s eyes through the cameras. Seeing Jordi in his element like this…Wrench can see why it may have been a mistake to get mixed up with him. The guy is ruthless.

Where Marcus would hide or stun or restrain, Jordi kills. He slips a knife between a man’s ribs and continues on down the hall without any worry or hesitation, just cold calculation. Wrench likes mayhem. He likes stopping the bad guys, and yeah sometimes that means killing someone but it’s always been a last resort that he never enjoyed. For Jodi, it’s just a Tuesday.

All in all, the job takes three hours and then Jordi’s sneaking in through the hotel window with his multitude of guns strapped over his shoulders.

“Jesus fuck. Why did we do the third floor? That was not a fun climb,” Jordi says, then looks at Wrench. “Oh, strawberries!”

Wrench shuts his laptop and pushes the platter towards the end of the bed. Jordi plucks one up and continues to talk as he chews.

“Honestly, I’m not impressed. This guy was like the third most important in their little hierarchy,” Jordi says. “Security was lax.”

“Or I’m just great at providing distractions and perfectly time breaches,” Wrench says.

“Mmm, no,” Jordi says and grabs another strawberry. “You’re good kid but like…nah. Something is fishy here. We should move once I shower.”

“Were you followed?” Wrench asks, glancing towards the window.

“No, but no building in this city goes unwatched,” Jordi says.

“Ah, fuck.”

Jordi disappears into the bathroom and Wrench flies off the bed to start cramming his few belongings into his bag. Then he shoots off a message to Marcus, grateful not for the first time that they can bypass the international fees thanks to the satellites they hacked.

_Wrench: Wish me luck. Apparently this is a bit more dangerous than Jordi let on._

He digs through his bag and finds the pistol Marcus insisted he take with him and then slips it into the waistband of his pants. His phone buzzes and when he looks at it, Marcus has only texted back a string of random numbers and letters.

_Wrench: I’ll be fine._

Jordi emerges from the bathroom in a new clean suit, this one a deep grey. He doesn’t speak, only grabbing his bag and heading for the door without waiting to see if Wrench was following. Wrench scrambles to follow, tapping into the nearest security camera and doing his best to stay two steps ahead of their path as Jordi winds their way to the basement. He’s glad he did. He steers them clear of employees several times, likely saving their lives given Jordi’s tendency to shoot first and ask questions never.

Jordi stops short at the door leading outside and turns to face him. “Alright kid, time to ditch the mask.”

“Like hell,” Wrench says, hand reaching up to his face instinctively.

“It sort of defeats the whole purpose of avoiding facial recognition if you stick out like a whore at a bar mitzvah doesn’t it?” Jordi asks with a tone teetering on the edge between sarcasm and an actual threat.

“Tough shit, it’s not coming off,” Wrench says.

The change between cheerful and deadly happens in the blink of an eye. He shoves Wrench against the wall with a forearm to his neck, a smile on his face, and nothing at all in his eyes.

“Look, kid, a few years ago I would’ve said fuck it and let you get yourself killed but I am _trying_ to do this new thing where I care about my coworkers, so you can listen to me and live or not and die. Your choice.”

He lets Wrench go and heads back for the door. He makes a show of checking over his weapons, giving Wrench time to make whatever decision he wants to make. Blood roaring in his ears, Wrench undoes the latches of his mask. It’s the last thing he wants to do. He just wants to die in the middle of nowhere China even less.

“Alright, let’s go,” Wrench says.

Jordi doesn’t look back at him, a sign of respect he hadn’t expected. “Keep your head down and do as I say.”

           

-.-

 

In the end, they make it out alive after a merry car chase, a knife fight on a rooftop, and too many bullets flying everywhere. They hole up in a shitty motel three miles from the airport.

“What were you, a fucking boy scout?” Jordi asks, watching as Wrench ties off the stitches he’d done along his side.

“Nope,” Wrench says. “Sitara insisted anyone in the field learn this shit. Like I’d fucking last in something like that.”

Jordi laughs, not even flinching when Wrench wipes the blood off the knife wound and presses gauze to it. “Yeah, you don’t like authority much do you?”

Wrench feigns a gasp. “What gave it away?” He fixes a bandage over the stitched wound and smooths it down. “Anything else?”

“Everything else will keep,” Jordi says. “And I didn’t mean what I said. I think you like authority just fine in the right context.”

Wrench makes an overdramatic noise of disgust even as he feels a flush creep up his face behind his mask. “Are you flirting with me while bleeding out on the bed?”

“Well I’m not bleeding out anymore,” Jordi says with a ridiculous waggle of his eyebrows.

"Ugh.”

 Even as he sighs, Wrench shoves the first aid supplies off the motel bed and straddling Jordi’s lap. There’s too much inside him, anger about Jordi’s insistence that he remove his mask, the hysterical but joyful fear that always floods through him every time he gets shot at, the general arousal he gets from a rush of adrenaline. Sure, he could run it all off. But he hates running.

“You’re going to have to do all the work. It’s only fair after I got hurt saving your life,” Jordi says, warm hands sliding up under Wrench’s tank top.

"Not sure how that proves your point about me liking authority, but fine, I can be in charge if you’re too tired old man,” Wrench says with more bravado than he feels.

“Why don’t you open yourself up for me and we can revisit that statement,” Jordi says, hands squeezing tight enough to bruise on Wrench’s hips.

“Ha, right.”

Wrench leaves the bed long enough to big through his bag and find the lube, flushing when Jordi raises an eyebrow when he returns.

“Someone was hoping for a repeat performance,” Jordi says.

Wrench doesn’t give him a response. Instead he slicks himself up and slides down on him as quick as he can, biting his lip at the pleasure that washes through him at the way Jordi’s breath catches.

“Fuck, not as tight as before,” Jordi says. “But still damn good. You been fucking yourself since you had my dick last? Couldn’t take being so empty, huh?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Wrench says, flushing bright red beneath his mask as he presses both his hands to Jordi’s chest for leverage as he rolls his hips. 

Jordi’s hand curls around his cock and gives him a dry stroke. “I think you like my mouth.”

Wrench covers his mouth with his hand and well, that’s that.

 

-.-

 

Wrench wakes up expecting to be alone. It’s a dumb thought – Jordi promised to at least get him back to the States after all. Still, it’s almost worse to wake up with an arm draped over his waist. His face Is hot from sleeping in his mask. He slides out of bed and heads for the bathroom, tugging the mask off as he goes and setting it on the counter before shutting the door. For a long while, he stares down at the sink, attempting to get his thoughts in order.

Marcus was right. Getting involved with even _work_ with Jordi had been a bad idea, and add on top of that what they’d done last night? His head was all sorts of fucked up. The same hands that had killed hours before touched, _caressed_ him, with such gentleness, he’d almost forgotten that Jordi didn’t actually give a shit about him. But then, how could he say that when Jordi went out of his way to protect him?

Of course that could just be a matter of protecting his investment. It wasn’t like Wrench worked for cheap.

He lets out a shuddering breath as memories of the night before resurface. Jordi had seen right through his bravado. Instead of the rough fuck Wrench had expected, he’d controlled Wrench with a firm hand and soft words of praise that had knotted and released an anxious feeling in his chest. It had been amazing at the time. Now, with the harsh fluorescent light beating down on him, shame from his insecurities being so blatant and easily manipulated him threatened to swamp him.

A knock on the bathroom door jars him out of his impending panic.

“You decent?” Jordi calls. “I gotta take a leak.”

Wrench grabs his mask and slides it back on, watching in the mirror as it recalibrates and he flicks the eyes to the normal look. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Jordi opens the door and as Wrench tries to slide past him, he grabs Wrench’s wrist. When he looks up, Jordi looks…concerned.

“You feeling okay?” Jordi asks. “Last night was a bit different.”

Wrench flips the expression to angry and yanks away. “What? You think a little flowery talk is gonna fuck me up? Get over yourself.”

His attempt to get them to more familiar and antagonistic ground fails when Jordi snorts and laughs.

“Okay, message received,” Jordi says.

He lets Wrench go and shuts the door behind him. Wrench stares at the door and wonders what the fuck kind of message Jordi had received.

 

-.-

 

Wrench knows he’s boned, figuratively, when two weeks without even a text from Jordi, he’s feeling antsy. He’s jacked off no less than eight times thinking about the deep purr of Jordi’s voice whispering how good he was for following orders. Part of him desperately wants it again. The other part can’t stop thinking about just how cold and calculating the man could be. Despite that though, he’d still respected Wrench’s boundaries as much as possible. And really, that was the problem.

It’s not like he’s naïve. He knows no one was clear cut good or bad, and he certainly wasn’t even if he did his best to stick to his own morals. But Jordi…was downright confusing. He pushed Wrench’s buttons, but in the best kind of way. Even though he complained, he didn’t hesitate to step in between bullets and Wrench. Sure, he said it was about ‘protecting an investment’. But it was a lot to take and risk for a hacker. Wrench knows he’s good, but he also knows Jordi has access to better hackers.

So on some level, Jordi has to care. But where that leaves them, Wrench has no god damn idea.

 

-.-

 

_Jordi: I’ve got a job in San Francisco. Let’s do dinner._

Wrench stares at his phone. There’s something like panic swimming in his chest because this…this breaks the pattern of contacting each other for work only.

_Wrench: You need a hacker?_

_Jordi: No, I need a dinner partner_

Wrench shoves his phone in his pocket and turns back to the work bench where Marcus’ broken drone sits. It might be a lost cause but whatever. He doesn’t want to waste the material to make a new one if he can avoid it, and also he doesn’t want to think about what the fuck Jordi is thinking.

His phone begins to buzz in his pocket. He ignores it as he plugs in the hot glue gun and starts examining the crack along the main body. His phone stops and starts back up just as he picks the gun up. He swears and drops it, ripping his phone out of his pocket to answer.

“What?”

“Easy now, I was going to offer to buy but if you’re going to be an asshole, maybe I won’t,” Jordi says.

“Fuck you,” Wrench says, painfully aware that the hostility he’s directing towards Jordi is mostly undeserved but unable to help himself.

“Okay, see this is why we need to talk,” Jordi says. “I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”

“I’m busy.”

“See you soon!”

           

-.-

 

Jordi takes them to a fancy Italian place and gets them a secluded booth meant to keep important business discussions private. He gives Wrench’s outfit a disapproving look. Wrench flips him off. Really, Wrench isn’t sure why Jordi would expect it to go any differently.

"I don’t know why I try,” Jordi says as he opens his menu. “Seriously, I try to break a decades old cycle of being an asshole and what do I get? Disrespect.”

“It’s me. If you wanted respect you should have picked some other twink,” Wrench says.

 Jordi gives him a look and Wrench goes quiet, looking at the menu instead. The prices make him want to puke.

“Now, the whole reason I brought you here was so we could have an adult conversation,” Jordi says. “About where you and I stand.”

“I hack shit, you kill people, we fuck, and then we ignore each other until the next job,” Wrench says. “There, clarified. We done?”

“You’d think the offer of free food would help, but no you’re still impatient. The point is that I want to change the arrangement we currently have,” Jordi says.

Wrench can’t help his borderline hysterical giggle. “What, like you want to date?”

"Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t date,” Jordi says, anger flashing in his eyes for the briefest of moments. “I am however, in my old age, finding that for whatever reason I _enjoy_ your company outside the violence and sex.”

“Aren’t you like, thirty-five? Hardly _old_ ,” Wrench says.

“In my line of work, I’m ancient.”

Usually, Jordi makes such comments to boast. Now, he sounds tired. Wrench sighs, deciding at least for the moment to set aside his own issues.

“So what, you want to be my sugar daddy?”

The question seems to perk Jordi right up. “Yes, exactly!”

“Well then. Would I be obligated to fuck you whenever you wanted?”

“Of course not. We keep everything the same except sometimes I take you out to dinner after a job and you let me be sweet to you,” Jordi says. “If we fuck, well I’m not going to complain, but I insist on completely consensual relations. Feel free to tell me to kick rocks if you want.”

Wrench squirms in his seat. “I don’t get what you get out of this.”

“Company.” Jordi’s expression grows serious again and Wrench resists the urge to squirm again. “A reminder that there’s more to this shithole planet than killing. Why I’m compelled to enjoy your company of all people I have no idea. You’re a good fuck and you don’t let me walk all over you, and I can’t tell if you hate me or love me which is a rush all on its own.” He leans forward on his elbows, voice lowering. “And I love that you know I could snap you in two but you still bend over a desk and beg to take my cock.”

Wrench flushes behind his mask. Jordi leans back.

“That’s why you’re giving me the cold shoulder recently, isn’t it?” Jordi asks.

“What?”

“If I’m nice to you it means it’s more than just fuck buddies and occasional co-workers,” Jordi says. “But you want me to be nice.”

Wrench searches for a lie and then opts for honesty. “It’d be…nice. But that’s not who you are.”

Jordi tilts his head to the side. “And just who do you think I am?”

“A killer.”

"Yes, I am,” Jordi says.

Wrench shakes his head, thoughts racing faster and panic clawing at his chest again. “I get it. I do. That’s just how the world works and it’s fucking ugly and Marcus…Marcus-“

"Is a vigilante, but not a killer,” Jordi says. “Not when he has a choice. So what, you can’t reconcile fucking me because of my line of work?”

"I don’t…no.” Wrench’s hands curl into fists on top of the table. “I’m sorry. It’s been great, honestly, but this is just…I don’t need my head fucked with anymore and it’s not your fault, I made the choice to keep working with you and fucking you. It’s just not good for me.”

“Alright,” Jordi says, leaning back in the booth. “Message heard.”

“I’m sorry,” Wrench says, glad that Jordi can’t how weak and fragile his voice sounds. “I hope you find someone.”

“You too,” Jordi says.

Wrench leaves the restaurant as fast as he can.

 

-.-

 

Jordi doesn’t call him again. Wrench throws himself into DedSec work and tries not to think too hard about it because it’s what he wanted after all. He likes chasing adrenaline as much as the next guy but Marcus had been right. Getting mixed up with a contract killer was a whole other ball game and while Wrench was partial to self-destruction, even he could see that a relationship with a man like that was too far.

That doesn’t stop his heart from pounding when nearly a year later he gets a postcard from Tokyo saying, “Wish You Were Here” with a scrawled ‘Jordi’ at the bottom. He throws it away.


End file.
